CN110114042B

CN110114042B - Cervical vertebra traction device

Info

Publication number: CN110114042B
Application number: CN201780078753.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 邹绍明
Original assignee: Nanyang Technological University
Current assignee: Nanyang Technological University
Priority date: 2016-12-20
Filing date: 2017-12-20
Publication date: 2022-07-15
Anticipated expiration: 2037-12-20
Also published as: CN110114042A; WO2018117963A1

Abstract

A cervical traction device comprising: a pad having a front side inclined upward in a rearward direction and a rear side inclined downward in the rearward direction with respect to a user lying on his back on the cervical traction device; a jaw contact region provided on the front side to contact a user's mandible when the user lies on his back on the cervical traction device and a shoulder contact region provided on the rear side to contact a user's shoulder when the user lies on his back on the cervical traction device, wherein a minimum preset spacing between the user's mandible and shoulder is defined between the jaw contact region and the shoulder contact region; and a through slot extending downwardly through the pad relative to a horizontal plane when the cervical traction device is placed to allow a user to lie on his back on the cervical traction device, the through slot allowing the user's neck to pass through the pad, a bottom surface of the through slot including a rear surface having a downwardly inclined surface in a rearward direction to allow the user's shoulders to slide back down on the downwardly inclined surface to apply traction on the user's neck.

Description

Cervical vertebra traction device

Technical Field

The invention relates to a cervical vertebra traction device.

Background

Cervical spondylosis is one of the most common degenerative diseases of the cervical spine, mainly caused by age-related pathologies of the bones, intervertebral discs and joints. Hospital/clinic physiotherapy ring segments can impose a time and economic burden on many patients. However, home methods or devices such as door traction are not only difficult to set up, but also have poor compliance, or they may lack moving parts and expensive mechanical or electrical parts that the patient can control, and thus may cause undue force on the cervical spine, resulting in worsening of symptoms. In addition, the user may not follow the relevant instructions, leading to unexpected consequences. Therefore, there is a need to develop an economical and safe household cervical traction apparatus for general population, especially for the elderly.

Disclosure of Invention

The cervical vertebra traction device disclosed by the invention utilizes the natural weight of a user to provide an indirect gravity-assisted cervical vertebra traction effect. The device can be customized to match the user to achieve safe and conservative treatment for the user's needs.

According to a first aspect, there is provided a cervical traction device comprising:

a pad having a front side inclined upward in a rearward direction and a rear side inclined downward in the rearward direction with respect to a user lying on his back on the cervical traction device;

A jaw contact region provided on the front side to contact a user's mandible when the user lies on his back on the cervical traction device and a shoulder contact region provided on the rear side to contact a user's shoulder when the user lies on his back on the cervical traction device, wherein a minimum preset spacing between the user's mandible and the shoulder is defined between the jaw contact region and the shoulder contact region; and

a through slot extending downwardly through the pad relative to a horizontal plane when the cervical traction device is placed to allow a user to lie on his back on the cervical traction device, the through slot allowing the user's neck to pass through the pad, a bottom surface of the through slot including a rear surface having a downwardly inclined surface in the rearward direction to allow the user's shoulders to slide back down over the downwardly inclined surface to apply traction to the user's neck.

The jaw contact area may be contoured to the user's lower jaw.

The shoulder contact region may be contoured to the user's shoulders.

The bottom surface of the through slot may further include a front surface adjacent to a front portion of the rear surface, the front surface having an upwardly inclined surface in the rearward direction to form a support for a rear of a neck of a user placed thereon.

The cervical traction device may further include a headrest portion adjacent to a front portion of the pad, the headrest portion being for receiving a rear of a head of a user placed thereon.

The preset spacing is adjustable by selectively attaching a collar to at least one of the front side of the cushion and the back side of the cushion. The jaw contact area may be provided on a collar attached to the anterior side of the pad.

The cervical traction device can comprise an integral structure manufactured by 3D printing. Alternatively, the pad may comprise a first sheet comprising the upper side and a second sheet comprising the lower side and a lower surface.

Drawings

In order that the invention may be fully understood and readily put into practical effect, there shall now be described by way of non-limitative example only exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the description being with reference to the accompanying illustrative drawings.

Fig. 1 is a front perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a cervical traction device.

Fig. 2 is a side view schematically showing the cervical traction apparatus of fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a rear view schematically showing the cervical traction apparatus of fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a front perspective view, a side view and a rear view of the cervical traction apparatus of fig. 1 with and without a user.

Fig. 5 is a side view of another exemplary embodiment of a cervical traction device including a head pillow.

Fig. 6 is a side view of another exemplary embodiment of a cervical traction device having two pads.

Figure 7 is a graph of typical creep of an intervertebral disc.

Detailed Description

An exemplary embodiment of the cervical traction device 100 will now be described with reference to fig. 1-7, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to the same or similar parts.

As shown in fig. 1 to 4, the cervical traction apparatus 100 generally includes a pad 20. The pad 20 is generally wedge-shaped, having two sides 28, 29: a front side 28, the front side 28 including a front slope 21 extending upwardly and rearwardly to the top 23 of the pad 20; and a rear side 29, the rear side 29 having a rear slope 22 extending downwardly and rearwardly from the top 23 of the pad 20. Common anatomical directional terms used in this specification are used with reference to a user using the cervical traction device 100 in a supine position (i.e., lying flat back down), e.g., "front" means toward the head, "rear" means toward the feet, "front" means extending vertically from the chest, "back" means extending vertically from the back, etc. In addition, the terms "top," "bottom," "upper," "lower," and other common orientations are used with reference to a horizontal plane when the cervical traction device 100 is placed in a normal use position (as shown in fig. 4).

The cushion 20 has a generally centrally disposed through slot 30, the through slot 30 extending downwardly through the top 23 of the cushion 20 for passage of the neck 93 of a user, thereby extending upwardly on each side of the through slot 30 to form two tabs 33. Through slots 30 extend downward to define a front surface 31 contiguous with a rear surface 32. Front surface 31 and rear surface 32 collectively form the bottom surface of through slot 30. The profile of the front surface 31 preferably slopes relatively gently upwards in a rearward direction (as compared to the rear surface 32) to provide support to the rear of the user's neck 93. The contour of the rear surface 32 preferably slopes relatively steeply downward in a rearward direction (as compared to the front surface 31) so that when a user lies down on the pad 20, the user's shoulders 94 slide rearward and downward, thereby applying traction to the user's neck 93.

The front ramp 21 extends up to the two projections 33 and its contoured design preferably has a custom curved profile that matches the lower half of the user's head (i.e., the chin and jaw areas, also referred to as the mandible 92) so that the front side 28 of the pad 20 on the two projections 33 comfortably matches the shape of the user's mandible 92. The projections 33 on both sides of the through slot 30 on the anterior side 28 of the cushion 20 are preferably provided with jaw contact areas 26 so that the force of the anterior ramp surface 21 on the mandible 92 is well distributed over the entire area of the mandible 92 of the user, rather than being a localized point, to provide maximum comfort to the user.

The contoured design of the rear slope 22 preferably has a contour that is customized to the shoulder 94 of the user so as to achieve a comfortable fit of the rear side 29 of the cushion 20 against the shoulder 94 of the user. Shoulder contact regions 27 are preferably provided on both sides of the through slot 30 on the rear side 29 of the cushion 20 so that the force of the rear ramp 22 on the shoulder 94 is well distributed over the entire shoulder 94 of the user, rather than being a local point, to provide maximum comfort to the user.

In an alternative embodiment, as shown in fig. 5, the cervical traction device 100 may further include a headrest portion 10 adjacent to the front of the pad 20. The headrest 10 serves to receive and support the rear of the user's head 91 thereon when the user lies on the cervical traction device 100 in a supine position, and is preferably contoured to conform to the shape of the user's head 91. In the case where the apparatus 100 further includes the headrest portion 10, the headrest portion 10 and the cushion 20 are preferably integrally formed as one integral structure. The head rest portion 10, in conjunction with the front side 28 of the cushion 20, provides rigid support for the user's head 91. When the cervical traction device 100 is in use, the head 91 should preferably be well supported to minimize any head movement in an axial direction that coincides with the spinal direction of the user.

In one exemplary embodiment of manufacturing the cervical traction device 100, a customized curved profile of the user's head 91, neck 93, and shoulders 94 may be obtained by performing an appropriate 3D surface scan of the user, thereby obtaining a 3D scan of the user. The available software is then used to generate a digital model of the cervical traction device 100 from the user's 3D scan, wherein the contour is drawn according to the user's 3D scan to achieve contouring of the pad 20 (and the headrest portion 10, if present) and contouring of the digital model of the cervical traction device 100. The digital model is used to control additional manufacturing equipment to perform additional manufacturing processes as specified by the digital model to produce the spacer 20 (and the headrest portion 10, if any) to manufacture the cervical traction device 100. The additional manufacturing equipment and processes may include 3D printers and 3D printing processes using suitable materials such as thermoplastics. Because the profile is comparatively complicated, therefore it is comparatively loaded down with trivial details, hard and time-consuming to adopt traditional method manufacturing, and the manual mode is difficult to guarantee accurate drawing necessary proper matching degree moreover. In contrast, 3D printing can ensure that the device 100 achieves the replication accuracy of the contours and the good fit required for maximum comfort and effectiveness.

It can thus be seen that in order to provide traction to the neck 93 when a user lies on the cervical traction device 100, the structure of the cervical traction device 100 includes a pad 20 having an upwardly sloping front side 28 that slopes upwardly to contact the user's mandible 92 to limit axial movement of the head 91, and a downwardly sloping shoulder profile formed by the rear side 29 and rear surface 32 at the bottom of the through slot 30 to allow the user's shoulders 94 to slide rearwardly and downwardly. When 3D printing is used, a digital model of the cervical traction device 100 can be created from a 3D scan of the user, and the structure or pad 20 described above is manufactured in accordance with the digital model so that the structure or pad 20 can be said to be "molded" for the user. This "molded" support structure of the cervical traction device 100 prevents the user's head 91 from moving with his torso 95 during cervical traction.

The cushion 20 provides corresponding wedge-shaped support by the rear ramp 22, the rear ramp 22 providing a shoulder support region 27 in contact with the shoulder which abuts against the shoulder 94 of the user. As shown in fig. 4-6, the customer is customized by appropriate contouring of the anterior slope 21, posterior slope 22, and posterior surface 32 of the pad 20 such that the wedge-shaped support provided by the pad 20 is customized to create a targeted configuration of the preset spacing d of the user's chin 92 and shoulders 94 to apply radial cervical traction when the user lies horizontally on the cervical traction device 100.

In use, the cervical traction device 100 is preferably placed on a flat firm mattress 200, as shown in fig. 5 and 6. When a user lies on his back on the cervical traction device 100, the wedge-shaped pad 20, which has been specifically configured and customized to suit the particular user, applies radial traction to the user's neck 93 due to the spacing d it forms between the user's chin 92 and shoulder 94. The spacing d is predetermined and customized according to the doctor's prescription, or within recommended ranges. Since the user can apply traction by simply lying on his/her back on the cervical traction device 100, the cervical traction device 100 does not require any user's control in operation. Furthermore, by means of the customized distance d, the traction amount can also be preset, so that a defined traction amount can be achieved with a minimum risk of injury and in a safe and comfortable manner.

The gravity-assisted traction mode, which is implemented using the weight of the user in the supine position and the curved profile of the device 100 customized to the user, can improve the local traction effect of the cervical vertebrae. The technique used is based on the underlying solid mechanics and the deformation behaviour of the material. As shown in fig. 7, the spine is in a state of minimum load during sleep or in the supine position. Wherein, especially for degenerated intervertebral discs, unrecovered deformations may occur after transient recovery and creep recovery. The cervical traction device 100 generates traction force by the gravity (as shown by the vertically downward arrow in fig. 5) applied to the body in the supine position, thereby achieving the effect of gravity-assisted traction. Wherein the vertically downward gravitational force acting on shoulder 94 is resolved into a normal force perpendicular to rear surface 32 and a tangential force parallel to the lower inclined surface of rear surface 32. Since the jaw contact region 26 holds the head 91 in place, the tangential force acts as a traction force on the neck 93 between the head 91 and the shoulder 93.

Over time, as the shoulders 94 slide further back and down on the posterior surface 32, due to gravity, while the head 91 remains held in place by the jaw contact region 26, the weight of the body causes the wedge or spacing d between the head 91 and shoulders 94 to further increase, thereby causing increased traction on the neck 93 or cervical spine. The profile of the device 100 is designed such that traction is gradual and relatively small, thereby enabling a relatively slow passive application of force for achieving a relatively safe cervical traction effect.

As traction increases, the disc height (IVD) will also gradually increase under the wedge angle in proportion to the total displacement, further promoting nutrient and water uptake by the disc. Degeneration of the intervertebral disc is obviously accompanied by an impaired nutritional supply to the intervertebral disc. It has also been demonstrated that convection currents due to mechanical loading can promote nutrient absorption and byproduct removal by the degenerated disc, thereby achieving therapeutic effects. Thus, the device 100 is often used to reduce the rate of disc degeneration caused by aging, a cause of cervical spondylosis.

Although the liner is described above as preferably having a unitary construction, the liner 20 may alternatively be constructed of at least two

sections

40, 50 which are assembled together in use, as shown in fig. 6. The first panel 40 of the cushion 20 may include an anterior side 28, the anterior side 28 having a jaw contact area 26 that contacts the user's mandible 92. The second panel 50 of the cushion 20 may include a rear side 29, the rear side 29 having a shoulder contact region 27 for contacting the shoulder of the user and a rear surface 32 at the bottom of the through slot to allow the shoulder of the user to slide back down to apply traction to the neck of the user.

It should be noted that the spacing d may be adjusted by a custom collar (not shown) that can be attached to the cushion 20. The custom collar may contain one or more cushions or pads or may be digitally printed to conform to the user's mandible 92. In the case of a collar, it will be appreciated that the jaw contact area 26 on the front side 28 of the pad which contacts the user's chin 92 is correspondingly provided on the collar rather than directly on the tab 33 of the pad 20. The collar can be made as an interchangeable structure so that the same user can achieve different values of the distance d by replacing the supporting cushions or collar without changing the basic structure or cushions 20 of the cervical traction device 100, thereby producing different traction effects. For example, adding a cushion or collar may increase the spacing d compared to the spacing d formed when using the cushion 20 alone. In other alternative embodiments, the collar may be attached to one or both of the front side 28 and the back side 29 of the cushion 20.

Further, by customizing only certain portions of the cervical traction device 100, the cervical traction device 100 can also be configured to accommodate different users. Of greater importance is the mandibular support provided by the jaw contact area 26 on the anterior side 28, as well as the cushion spacing d which determines the amount of traction applied to the user.

The contemplated use of the cervical traction device 100 disclosed herein is as a clinical or home cervical traction device for alleviating symptoms associated with cervical spondylosis. The passive cervical traction effect achieved by the cervical traction device 100 during rest in the supine position can be used to alleviate symptoms associated with cervical spondylosis. The cervical traction apparatus 100 utilizes the inclined posture of the head 91 and the trunk 95 on the pad 20 to make the trunk 95 gradually move away from the head 91, thereby realizing conservative cervical traction and further promoting unloading during sleep/supine position.

Since the cervical traction apparatus 100 does not apply an external load to the cervical spine segment, a safe progressive cervical traction effect particularly suitable for the elderly can be achieved. Through customization and 3D printing, the patient matching degree and comfort level of the device can be improved. It can be seen that the passive cervical traction device 100 proposed by the present invention is a user-friendly portable (no moving parts or complicated electrical/mechanical parts) device that is safe, easy to use, and economical, and thus is suitable for all patients including the elderly.

While various exemplary embodiments of the invention have been described above, it will be understood by those skilled in the technology concerned that many variations in details of design, construction and/or operation may be made without departing from the present invention. For example, the bottom surface of the channel 30 may be formed from a series of components that are attachable to and detachable from the cushion 20, each having a front surface 31 and a rear surface 32 with different angles of inclination, thereby providing a series of stretching therapies to the user without having to replace the entire cushion 20.

Claims

1. A cervical traction device, comprising:

a pad having a front side that is inclined upward in a rearward direction and a rear side that is inclined downward in the rearward direction with respect to a user lying on his back on the cervical traction device, the front side having a profile that matches the user's mandible and limits movement of the user's head;

a jaw contact region provided on the front side to contact a mandible body of the user's mandible when the user lies on his back on the cervical traction device and a shoulder contact region provided on the rear side to contact a shoulder of the user when the user lies on his back on the cervical traction device, wherein a minimum preset spacing between the mandible body and the shoulder of the user's mandible is defined between the jaw contact region and the shoulder contact region; and

a through slot extending downwardly through the pad relative to a horizontal plane when the cervical traction device is placed to allow a user to lie on his back on the cervical traction device, the through slot allowing the user's neck to pass through the pad, a bottom surface of the through slot including a rear surface having a downward slope in the rearward direction to allow the user's shoulders to slide back down on the downward slope to apply traction to the user's neck while the cervical traction device prevents the user's head from moving with the user's torso.

2. The cervical traction device of claim 1 wherein the jaw contact area is contoured to the mandibular body of the user's mandible.

3. The cervical traction device of claim 1, wherein the shoulder contact area is contoured to the user's shoulders.

4. The cervical traction device of claim 1, wherein the bottom surface of the through-slot further comprises a front surface adjacent to a front portion of the rear surface, the front surface having an upwardly inclined surface in the rearward direction to form a support for a rear of a user's neck placed thereon.

5. The cervical traction device of claim 1, further comprising a headrest portion adjacent to a front portion of the pad for receiving a rear of a head of a user placed thereon.

6. The cervical traction device of claim 1, wherein the preset spacing is adjustable by selectively attaching a collar to at least one of an anterior side of the pad and a posterior side of the pad.

7. The cervical traction device of claim 6, wherein the jaw contact area is provided on a collar attached to the anterior side of the pad.

8. The cervical traction device of claim 1, wherein the cervical traction device comprises a 3D printed monolithic structure.

9. The cervical traction device of claim 1 wherein the pad comprises a first piece and a second piece, the first piece comprising the anterior side and the second piece comprising the posterior side and the posterior surface.